How Do I Gain Traffic to My New Blog?

Once you’ve gotten into a rhythm with posting regularly and consistently to your blog, the next big task is getting traffic. While your photos and writing may be fabulous, getting people to see that content isn’t easy. Getting traffic will take quite a bit of leg work, but don’t let that discourage you and be open to any opportunities that come your way…

1. The first thing to do is tell your friends and family about your blog. That might seem intimidating, but it shouldn’t be. Your friends have similar interests to you, so they should be interested in your content! Ask them to check it out! Ask them to share! And ask them to follow you! Chances are, they’ll have some helpful tips for making your content even better!

2. Next, you want to get your work on Pinterest. Here’s the trick to Pinterest… Pinterest success is dependent on regular posting and long pins. What does “long pins” mean? If you’re scrolling through your Pinterest feed, your eyes are immediately drawn to longer pins, so you want to make sure you have those longer pins heading back to your site! The maximum ratio for Pinterest is roughly 3:1, so your images should 3x as tall as they are wide. Every editing program I know has cropping options, so this just takes some practice. Eventually, you’ll want to add text to your images, if it’s applicable. If you click the Pinterest button on this page (left side for desktop, bottom for mobile), you’ll see a super long pin that includes photos and text about this page! After you pin your long pin to Pinterest, you want to get as many repins as possible. Help yourself out and post to as many of your boards as possible. You can also create new boards to fit in with the content you share. After that, join group boards on related topics and share your content there! You can find a list of group boards and search by topic here. {I’ll talk more about Pinterest apps that help with scheduling and repinning that help with posting in an upcoming post}

3. Stumbleupon. What is stumbleupon, you ask? Stumbleupon is this crazy little thing that can bring you a little to a lot of traffic! The platform is designed to introduce you to new websites and pages around the internet related to your interests. You thumbs up and thumbs down pages to help the program figure out what you like (similar to Pandora!). You want to add your content to the platform to help it get stumbled upon by others! If you’re reading this on a desktop, you can see what it looks like by clicking the stumbleupon icon on the left! A tip for getting the most out of Stumbleupon is not to just stumble your own content. You’ll want to stumble other internet sources too. And you never know – you might find some pretty interesting stuff out there!

4. Since we all know there is power in numbers, you’ll want to get some friends in your camp! Luckily, you aren’t the only one out there. Head to Facebook and search for blogger groups in your niche. For example, “travel blogger groups,” “fashion blogger groups,” and “gardening blogger groups.” You’ll want to weed through the groups (no pun intended). See what they are all about. There are groups that are just for support (i.e. to ask questions and bond about blogging life). Others will be all about exchanging comments, follows, etc. These are the ones that will help you get some traffic.

5. In order to gain traffic and get your name out there, guest post on other people’s sites. You can exchange a guest post with another blogger of a similar sized following and topic. You can introduce yourselves to each other’s readers, get some traffic, and, hopefully, gain new followers! You can also share your expertise on a website of related content. Many websites take contributions, so brainstorm some relevant topics and get to writing! You want to contribute to sites that will link back to your blog. That will get new eyes on your site and help your Google ranking (SEO).

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About

Luci is a California girl with a penchant for comfortably chic style, great food, and travel. When she's not blogging or planning a getaway, you can probably find her sipping on iced coffee in a cafe with her husband.